Shiraz’s Sacred Ground, Red Slope Rieslings and a Fresh Twist from Southern Italy

The tasting team at JamesSuckling.com rated 524 wines from 10 countries over the past week, led by Associate Editor Ryan Montgomery, who recently visited his homeland of Australia to taste the wines from some of the world's oldest vineyards, starting at Tyrrell’s Wines in Hunter Valley. Here, fifth-generation winemaker Chris Tyrrell presided over the release of the latest shiraz bottlings from their “Sacred Sites” series of wines, which are sourced exclusively from vineyards that are 100 years old or more.

The best of these was the Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley Old Patch 2024, from a vineyard planted in 1867 – making it the oldest vineyard in New South Wales and one of the oldest in the world. The fruit is handpicked and sorted in the vineyard before undergoing natural fermentation in open-top vats with approximately 10 percent whole-bunch inclusion. After fermentation, the wine is matured for 14 months in a single, year-old 2,700-liter French oak cask before bottling. Ryan summed up this wine in one word: “Wow,” describing it as powerful and minerally, with length, structure and purity, giving an old-vine texture and fine, gravelly tannins.

Unlike the brooding and savory Old Patch, the Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley 8 Acres 2024 offers a brighter, more lifted profile. It pays tribute to the traditional “Hunter Burgundy” style popular in Australian wine culture. Made from vines planted in 1892, this wine is all about aromatic lift and perfume, with a mid-weight palate, fine tannins and a textured yet subtly restrained mouthfeel.

And you can’t mention Tyrrell’s Wines without bringing up their semillons, a variety the family has championed across all five generations. Stylistically, Hunter Valley semillon is picked early, fermented quickly and bottled early to retain tension and purity. While these wines are high-tension and restrained in their youth, the real magic comes with time in the bottle.

This was evident in their iconic Tyrrell's Semillon Hunter Valley Vat 1 2025, which is very restrained yet hints at an underlying power with a palate that is focused and mineral-driven, alongside bright acidity and a firm, chalky texture – a wine built for the cellar.

Red Slope Rieslings

The two perfect dry whites that Senior Editor Stuart Pigott tasted during his long and intense week tasting in Rheinhessen, Germany, say everything about the wines of this region in the 2024 vintage. Both of them come from the so-called Roter Hang, or "Red Slope" – a string of steep vineyards between the small towns of Nierstein and Nackenheim on the left bank of the Rhine.

The Kühling-Gillot Riesling Rheinhessen Rothenberg Wurzelecht GG 2024 is a very daring expression of this red slate terroir, with incredible spiciness, flint and smoke character. In spite of the enormous concentration the super-intense minerality makes it feel like it’s dancing on your palate. It comes from a plot of ungrafted vines planted in 1934, and production was just 1,200 bottles.
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This unique wine is the crowning achievement of a string of spectacular vintages at the twin winery of Kühling-Gillot and Battenfeld-Spanier since 2019. They are the work of the wife-and-husband team of Carolin Spanier-Gillot and H.O. Spanier, and in 2024 every one of their wines has impressive substance and is seriously expressive! Scroll down to the tasting notes and check out all of them.

For Klaus-Peter, Julia and Felix Keller of the Keller winery, the perfect dry white of 2024 also comes from the Roter Hang. The Keller Riesling Rheinhessen Pettenthal GG 2024 has incredible smoky minerality, pink grapefruit, rose hip and wild berry flavors cascading over your palate.

Why did the Roter Hang shine in the 2024 vintage? Precisely because it was a moist year without any drought stress for the vines. Hot and dry vintages like 2020 are a major challenge for these vineyards because the red slate soil is shallow and has poor water retention.

No less amazing than this duo, and the best red wine that the Kellers have ever made, is the perfect Keller Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Zellertal am Schwarzen Herrgott GG 2023. This fabulously perfumed and precise pinot noir feels as weightless as a cloud in spite of its enormous concentration. Tannins don’t get any finer than this, and it is only the second vintage of this wine! Both these Keller wines are limited production.

Stuart was also deeply impressed by the Wittmann winery’s 2024 dry whites finding a trio of shining stars. His favorite? The Wittmann Riesling Rheinhessen Morstein GG 2024. Although it's still very young, it is a masterpiece of textural complexity and great concentration. Since this was the product of three hectares of vineyards in the heart of this great vineyard site, there’s a decent quantity. Indeed, that’s true of nearly all the 2024 Wittmann wines.

The biggest surprise for Stuart was over on the opposite side of Rheinhessen, in the Welzbach Valley in the north of the region. Stuart first met Tobias Knewitz of the Knewitz winery in 2009 when he tasted the then 18-year-old winemaker’s first wine (a dry silvaner from the 2008 vintage). Since then the wines of the Knewitz winery have only gotten better, gaining in depth and precision.

However, that didn’t prepare Stuart for the stunning 2024 vintage dry rieslings that Tobias Knewitz and his brother, showed him. The best of these wines reminded Stuart of great white Burgundy. For example, Stuart found a strong similarity between the incredibly chalky and stony finish of the Knewitz Riesling Rheinhessen Hundertgulden GG 2024 and the wines of the Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet site. However, even the Knewitz Riesling Rheinhessen Appenheim EL 2024, a great village wine, has an astonishing texture that's reminiscent of white burgundy.

That may sound farfetched, not least because white burgundy is made from the chardonnay grape. However, the best vineyard sites of the Welzbach Valley have limestone soils and the lie of the land is also reminiscent of Burgundy. So Stuart sees a compelling logic in this comparison. And it's not surprise to discover that the Knewitz family members are all big Burgundy fans!

Fresh Twist from Southern Italy

There is a common thread linking three of southern Italy’s most fascinating wine regions – Campania, Sicily and Sardinia – yet it runs counter to the image many wine lovers hold of them.

One expects heat in these southern regions of Italy, and indeed they are warm, with high average temperatures. Yet some of the best wines Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli and Tasting Manager Kevin Davy tasted over the past week come from pockets marked by a striking cool influence.

For Sicily it is Etna; for Campania, Irpinia; and for Sardinia, Mamoiada. What unites them is elevation, a more continental climate in Irpinia and Mamoiada, and higher rainfall on Etna. This freshness allows for longer growing seasons and, in turn, greater complexity in the grapes and wines – adding depth and layers to both reds and whites. Another powerful link between Etna and Irpinia is volcanic soil, with its smoky, spicy edge.

Within Irpinia, Taurasi remains a standout for its powerful and concentrated aglianico wines, such as the opulent Mastroberardino Campania Taurasi Riserva Naturalis Historia Riserva 2018, which is very deep with aromas of Mediterranean herbs, myrtle, smoke, ash, wild dark fruit and meat. Aging has softened its edges, revealing a full-bodied palate, condensed tannins and crisp acidity – aglianico’s signature in this region.

Etna shines with a white wine from Giuseppe Russo of Girolamo Russo, one of the region’s great artisanal producers. His Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco San Lorenzo 2024 shows a very tight and leafy style in this vintage, with grapefruits and lime, candied lemon and smoky minerality. Light-bodied, it has amazing silky texture, crisp acidity, a chewy palate and remarkable matter on the finish.

From Sardinia, personality pours from the Giovanni Montisci Cannonau di Sardegna Barrosu 2022. The wine is bursting with energetic raspberries and red cherries, and it’s fresh and precise, lifted by myrtle and Mediterranean herbs. Full-bodied with a touch of fruit sweetness, it remains savory, polished and wonderfully juicy.

In our Hong Kong office, Tasting Manager Kevin Davy explored a selection of Etna reds from Azienda Agricola Sciara, a new winery for us that captivates with the purity, vibrancy and distinctly volcanic character of its wines.

Hong Kong-born winemaker Stef Yim relocated to Etna’s high-altitude volcanic slopes to craft wines with a strong sense of identity. Managing his winery, Azienda Agricola Sciara, and vineyards singlehandedly, Yim has adopted a meticulous, vigneron-driven approach, tending his vines with extreme care, avoiding additives and pursuing a pure, precise winemaking style. His Azienda Agricola Sciara Terre Siciliane 980 Metri 2021 immediately enchants with its floral lift, accented by wild herbs that evoke a vivid sense of place. On the palate, it is crisp and vibrant, delivering a clear expression of its terroir.

The Azienda Agricola Sciara Terre Siciliane 1200 Metri 2021, meanwhile, is a profoundly mineral expression of nerello mascalese with vibrant energy, a velvety texture and a long, stony finish. The 2022 vintage of this wine displays similar quality and character, though with more pronounced floral and spice notes.

Finally, his Azienda Agricola Sciara Terre Siciliane Sensazione di Lava 2021 is racy and dynamic with classic notes of roses, orange rind and dried herbs. It brims with lively verve, driven by a core of marked minerality, and finishes with a spicy lift and impressive length. Each cuvee from Sciara is a pristine representation of nerello mascalese, yet distinctly individual, with each offering from the series revealing its unique energy, style and expression and all highlighting the diversity of this volcanic terroir.

– Ryan Montgomery, Stuart Pigott, Aldo Fiordelli and Kevin Davy contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

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